Three Seas Sofia Summit and Business Forum Agenda Draft

Home , 2021 Brussels summit, Andrzej Duda, Egils Levits, Rumen Radev

HYBRID EVENT 8th I 9th July 2021 SAVE THE DATE

PRESIDENT of the REPUBLIC of BULGARIA

THREE SEAS SOFIA SUMMIT AND BUSINESS FORUM AGENDA DRAFT

8th July 2021 (Thursday)

12:00 – 14:30 Registration & Welcome co ee

15:00 – 17:00 Business Forum Opening (Hall 3) Mr. Kiril Petkov, Minister of Economy of the Republic of Bulgaria

PRESIDENTIAL PANEL “Three Seas Initiative: A path to smart development and comprehensive economic growth” • H.E. Mr. Rumen Radev, President of the Republic of Bulgaria • Representative of H.E. Mr. Alexander Van der Bellen, President of Austria • H.E. Mr. Andrej Plenković, Prime-Minister of the Republic of Croatia • H.E. Ms. Kersti Kaljulaid, President of the Republic of Estonia • H.E. Mr. János Áder, President of Hungary • H.E. Mr. Egils Levits, President of the Republic of Latvia • H.E. Mr. Gitanas Nausėda, President of the Republic Lithuania (online) • H.E. Mr. Andrzej Duda, President of Poland • H.E. Mr. Klaus Iohannis, President of Romania • H.E. Mr. Borut Pahor, President of the Republic of Slovenia • H.E. Ms. Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President, European Commission • H.E. Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund • H.E. Mr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of Germany • H.E. Ms. Katerina Sakellaropoulou, President of the Hellenic Republic of Greece

17:00 – 19:00 PANEL ENERGY (Hall 7) PANEL INNOVATION (Hall 8)

National Palace of Culture, 1 Bulgaria Sq., Soﬁa 12:00 – 14:30 Registration & Welcome co ee

15:00 – 17:00 Business Forum Opening (Hall 3) Mr. Kiril Petkov, Minister of Economy of the Republic of Bulgaria

17:00 – 19:00 PANEL ENERGY (Hall 7) PANEL INNOVATION (Hall 8)

8th July 17:00 - 19.00 PANEL ENERGY Hall 7

Keynote speakers • Ms. Kadri Simson, EU Commissioner for Energy (tbc) • Mr. Andrey Zhivkov, Minister of Energy, Republic of Bulgaria • Mr. Piotr Naimski, Secretary of State for Strategic Energy Infrastructure, Republic of Poland • Ms. Georgette Mosbacher, Co-Chair of the Three Seas Program, Atlantic Council, USA • Representative of the U.S. Government

ROUND TABLE Main topic: • Connectivity for transition to sustainability Key deliverables: Carbon neutral energy systems of the future will require increased energy e ciency, renewable energy and nuclear power, as well as natural gas as a transition and main fuel for balancing purposes. Repurposing of the existing gas infrastructure will be needed for the widespread use of low-carbon hydrogen.

Moderator: Mr. Kostadin Sirleshtov, CMS Managing Partner, CEE Head of Energy & Climate Change, Bulgaria

Natural gas as a transition fuel – the infrastructure priorities for the region

Main focus: Natural gas should be recognized as an important transition fuel for the carbon neutral future. Interconnectivity is an essential element of security of supply and diversiﬁcation, and further investment in interconnecting infrastructure should be considered. Speakers: • Mr. Virgil-Daniel Popescu, Minister of Energy, Romania (tbc) • Ms. Teodora Georgieva, Executive Ocer, ICGB AD • Dr. Christian Bruch, President and CEO, Siemens Energy, Germany • Darius Maikštėnas, Chairman of the Board, CEO, Ignitis, Lithuania

Renewables as a driver for infrastructure development; the priorities for the region

Main focus: Renewable energy development is a driver for infrastructure development (new grids, new storage capacities, new interconnectors). Speakers: • Mr. Olivier Marquette, President of AmCham Bulgaria and President of AES Bulgaria and Head of Business Development Eurasia, USA • Mr. Richard Koenig, CEO Enery Development GmbH, Austria • Mr. Carsten Stang, Global Chief Commercial Ocer, ib vogt GmbH, Germany (tbc) • Representative of Baywa

The case for nuclear in the region – a joint inter-governmental eort

Main focus: Most of the individual eorts of the countries of the region to build new nuclear capacities are likely to fail without a regional eort. Role of Governments in the development of nuclear energy is key and so are the joint eorts in our region. Speakers: • Mr. Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign A airs and Trade, Hungary (tbc) • Mr. Ivan Pironkov, Director, Westinghouse Energy Systems LLC- Bulgaria Branch

Participants - Representatives of the 3SI Governments and Business

National Palace of Culture, 1 Bulgaria Sq., Soﬁa 8th July 17:00 - 19.00 PANEL INNOVATION Hall 8

Keynote speakers • Ms. Mariya Gabriel, EU Commissioner Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth (tbc) • Mr. Assen Vassilev, Minister of Finance of the Republic of Bulgaria • Mr. Andres Sutt, Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology of the Republic of Estonia (tbc)

ROUND TABLE Main topics: Discussion on connecting the innovation ecosystems in the Region, joining capacities and linking the local research and RegTech initiatives and e orts.

Key deliverables: Innovation e orts of the countries in the region would greatly beneﬁt of more coordinated way of cooperation and joint utilization of the countries assets – both as investment vehicles, R&D hubs, human capital and RegTech cooperation. The panel will explore how such a cooperation could be practically undertaken, which of the 3Seas countries would be interested to participate in the follow-up and provide it for continuation at the next meeting of the 3Seas Initiative.

Moderator: Mr. Filip Genov, Managing Director, SophiaLab, Bulgaria Speakers: • Chair/BM of SPIRIT – the Slovenian State Agency for Entrepreneurship, Internationalization, Foreign Investment and Technology, Slovenia • Representative of CEDEC, the European Federation of Local and Regional Energy Companies, Europe • Representative of Digital Poland, Poland (tbc) • Representative of ASSECO, Poland (tbc) • Representative of UiPath, Romania (tbc)

Participants - Representatives of the 3SI Governments and Business

17:00-19:00 B2B meetings B2B Lounge 19:00-20:00 Dinner Cocktail

National Palace of Culture, 1 Bulgaria Sq., Soﬁa THREE SEAS SOFIA SUMMIT AND BUSINESS FORUM AGENDA DRAFT

9th July 2021 (Friday)

9:00 – 10:00 Welcome co ee 9:00 – 10:30 PANEL 3SIIF & INVESTING IN INFRASTRUCTURE FOR INCLUSIVE GROWTH (Hall 9) How to work with 3SIIF and ﬁnance 3SI priority projects beyond the scope of the Fund Keynote by Mr. Ian Brzezinski, Senior Fellow, The Atlantic Council, Washington, D.C., USA Panel: Mr. Atanas Pekanov, Deputy Prime Minister for EU Funds Management, Bulgaria Mr. Gavin Tait, CEO at Amber Infrastructure Limited, United Kingdom Mr. David Marchick, Chief Operating Ocer, U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, Washington, DC., USA (tbc) Ms. Beata Daszynska-Muzyczka, Chairperson of the Supervisory Board of the Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund, President of the Management Board of Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (Polish Development Bank), Poland Mr. Nikolay Dimitrov, Member of the Supervisory Board of the Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund and Executive Director of the Bulgarian Development Bank Moderated by Mr. Iliya Lingorski, Chief Economist of the Bulgarian Development Bank 10:30 – 12:30 PANEL TRANSPORT (Hall 7) PANEL DIGITALIZATION (Hall 8)

National Palace of Culture, 1 Bulgaria Sq., Soﬁa 9th July 10:30 - 12.30 PANEL TRANSPORT Hall 7

Keynote speakers • Ms. Adina Vălean, European Commissioner for Transport (tbc) • Mr. Georgi Todorov, Minister of Transport of the Republic of Bulgaria • Representative of the U.S. Government

ROUND TABLE Main topics: • Well-designed multi-modal infrastructure value chain and sustainable mobility • Digitalization of Railways

Moderator: Mr. Kaspars Briškens, Head of Strategy & Development at the Rail Baltica (Latvia) Speakers: • Mr. Randy Guillot, ATA Immediate past Chairman, USA (tbc) • Martin Gauss, Air Baltic, Latvia (tbc) • Solidarity Transport Hub Poland, Poland (tbc) • Mr. Stefano Maio, Business Development Manager, Balkans, Bechtel Civil Infrastructure, USA (tbc) • Mr. Henrik Hololei, Director General DG Mobility and Transport, European Commission (tbc) • Mr. Iavor Pantaleev, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bulgarian National Freight Forwarding Association • Mr. Dan Ťok, former Minister of Transport negotiated high speed trains with Germany, also negotiated highway toll project, Czech Republic (tbc) • Mr. Andreas Matthä, CER Chair and CEO of Austrian Federal Railways - Connecting Europe Express, Austria (tbc) • Mr. Vojko Obersnel - Mayor of Rijeka, Connect Rijeka 2030: Multimodal transport hub with a sustainable and ecient transport system, Croatia (tbc)

Participants - Representatives of the 3SI Governments and Business

National Palace of Culture, 1 Bulgaria Sq., Soﬁa 9th July 10:30 - 12.30 PANEL DIGITALIZATION Hall 8

Keynote speakers • Ms. Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President, European Commission (tbc) • Mr. Kiril Petkov, Minister of Economy of the Republic of Bulgaria • Mr. Boštjan Koritnik, Minister of Public Administration, Slovenia (tbc) • Mr. Ciprian Teleman, Minister of Research, Innovation and Digitalization, Romania (tbc)

ROUND TABLE Main topic: Build Smart Infrastructure is a Key for Economic growth of the Region Topics: • Digitalization of Infrastructure аcross the Sectors for the Industry 4.0 • Public Cloud is Key Enabler for Smart Infrastructure Services • Access to Open Data is a Crucial Component for Infrastructure of Tomorrow.

Moderator: Mr. Petar T. Ivanov, CEO, American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria Speakers: • Representative of Google, USA • Representative of Amazon, USA • Representative of Facebook, USA (tbc) • Representative of A1 Austria (tbc) • Mr. Sławomir Pietrzyk, President and CEO IS-Wireless, Poland (tbс) • Mr. Michal Potoczek, OChK, National Cloud Operator of Poland (tbc)

Participants - Representatives of the 3SI Governments and Business

10:30 - 12:30 SIDE EVENTS MEETING OF THE 3SI CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (Hall 1.2) MEETING OF THE 3SI RESEARCH & INNOVATION AGENCIES (Hall tbc) MEETING OF THE 3SI INVESTMENT PROMOTION AGENCIES ONLINE (Hall 1.4)

National Palace of Culture, 1 Bulgaria Sq., Soﬁa 9th July 10:30 - 12.30 Meeting of the 3SI Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Hall 1.2)

ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION: Role of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry and companies in the Three Seas Initiative

Moderator: Mr. Krasen Stanchev, Institute for Market Economy, Bulgaria

Speakers: • Mr. Tsvetan Simeonov, President of BCCI, Bulgaria • CCI of Slovenia • Austrian Business club in Bulgaria • CCI of Romania • CCI of Latvia • Bulgarian – Romanian CCI • Hungarian-Bulgarian CCI • Ms. Olga Vassilevska, MV Logistica, Bulgaria • Mr. Agop Kasparian, Association Internet Service and Technology, Bulgaria (tbc) • Mr. Plamen Pavlov, Bulgarian Gas Association (tbc)

9th July 10:30 - 12.30 Meeting of the 3SI Research & Innovation Agencies (Hall tbc)

Main topic: Aligning priorities for developing successful research & policymaking initiatives for stronger and more cooperating regional innovation ecosystems

Host and Moderator: Mr. Martin Danovski, Chairman, State Agency Research and Innovation, Bulgaria

Participants - Representatives of the 3SI Organizations working in the ﬁeld of research & innovation

• Prof. dr. Robert Repnik, Director of the Slovenian Research Agency • Ms. Irena Martinović Klarić, Ph.D., Executive director of the Croatian Science Foundation • Representative of the Estonian Research Council (tbc) • Representative of the Croatian Science Foundation (tbc) • Representative of the Poland National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR) (tbc)

National Palace of Culture, 1 Bulgaria Sq., Soﬁa 9th July 10:30 - 12.30 Meeting of the 3SI Investment Promotion Agencies ONLINE (Hall 1.4)

10:30 – 10:40

ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION: Investment Agencies: Drivers of mutual success for investors and Governments

Moderator: Mr. Bostjan Skalar, Executive Director, WAIPA, Switzerland (tbc) Opening and Keynote speaker: • Mr. Stamen Yanev, Executive Director of InvestBulgaria Agency, Bulgaria

10:40 – 11:40 PANEL 1: The role of Investments Promotion Agencies in 3SII projects:

• Key functions that could be covered and performed by IPAs in 3SII projects, Mr. Stamen Yanev and representatives from the other IPAs; • Possibility for cooperation among IPAs in multilateral and cross-border projects, Mr. Stamen Yanev and representatives from the other IPAs; • Potential for collaboration with the 3SIIFund and Amber Infrastructure - Mr. Joe Philipsz, Head of 3SIIF Investments, Amber Infrastructure Ltd. • The potential impact of EU State Aid policies on 3SII projects – Ms. Anne Funch Jensen as member of Margrethe Vestager’s cabinet and expert on State aid policy; • Compatibility and coherence between the EU Projects of Common Interest (PCI) and 3SII projects - Ms. Yizhou Ren as member of Margrethe Vestager’s cabinet and expert on State aid policy and PCI, EU • Q&A Session

12:00 - 12:30

PANEL 2: Spreading cooperation:

• Creating network among the IPAs and 3SIIFund; • Possibility for utilization and integration with 3SII projects database; • Adoption of declaration for spreading cooperation.

10:00 – 12:30 B2B meetings B2B Lounge 12:30 – 13:30 Lunch cocktail

National Palace of Culture, 1 Bulgaria Sq., Soﬁa